Longtime Vernon Restaurant In Rubble As Route 83 Projects Begin

VERNON, CT — Two projects that will transform a section of Route 83 in Vernon have begun.

Route 83 is known locally as Talcottville Road. One project will turn a former bounce house venue into a recreation cannabis business. The other will replace a former restaurant and liquor store into a small strip plaza. The land in both instances is owned by South Windsor businessman Jagdev Toor.

Permits for the cannabis store were taken out in January and work — particularly a new parking lot — has been ongoing for more than a week. Its first floor has about 9,000 square feet of space and the upper floor features about 2,000 square feet of space, according to the plans.

Town regulations prohibit a recreational cannabis store from locating within 3,000 feet of a school. That means the "school" must have some sort of diploma or pure educational program, Gately said. That stipulation eliminates the daycare facility nearby from throwing a wrench in the cannabis plans, officials said.

The applicant already owns a medical cannabis store in South Windsor, town officials said.

In April, conceptual plans were outlined the strip plaza. On Monday, demolition work began on the former Pancho Loco restaurant at 218 Talcottville Road and by Tuesday morning, it had been reduced to a pile of rubble. One the Pancho Loco land is cleared, the razing of the Lazy Liquor building will be next.

Stores measuring between 2,000 square feet and 14,000 square feet could be accommodated over a 20,500-square-foot building, once the project is completed, according to the plans.

"We've been anticipating this for some time now," Mayor Daniel Champagne said at a separate restaurant ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.